Legally speaking, what is sexual harassment?

San Diego  What happens if allegations of sexual harassment against San Diego Mayor Bob Filner end up in court?

Broadly speaking, there are two types of sexual harassment cases.

One involves creating a hostile work environment, where an employee has been subjected to verbal or physical harassment.

Courts have said that to win such a claim a worker has to show the harassment was “severe and pervasive,” said San Diego employment lawyer Joshua Gruenberg. He recently won a $500,000 settlement from Riverside County in a lawsuit brought by an employee there who said she was ogled and repeatedly touched by a county official.

The courts, however, have held that stray remarks in the workplace don’t necessarily count as being severe and pervasive, Gruenberg said.

The harassment can be verbal only — a persistent stream of sexually charged comments that make the workplace hostile — or physical harassment, or a combination.

In general, groping or some other unwanted or unwelcome physical touching in the workplace will be enough to bring a case, said San Diego lawyer English Bryant, who has defended San Diego County against harassment suits as a county lawyer and is now in private practice.

San Diego lawyer Daniel Gilleon said that the more authority a person has in an organization, the standard for what constitutes severe and pervasive conduct is lessened.

So the higher up the food chain someone is, the less it takes for that person to create a hostile work environment.

“For a supervisor to say a derogatory comment is much more than if a co-worker said or did something,” Gilleon said.

In Filner’s case, as the chief executive of the city, that principle could make his legal exposure greater.

A worker who is subjected to one or two offensive comments might not be able to convince a court that the harassment was severe and pervasive. But if that employee is in a workplace where others are routinely subjected to the same treatment, Gilleon said, the worker would have a case.

“If someone says my boss said something to me twice, a court might say that’s not enough,” he said. “But if she said, ‘I had to hear him say that to 20 different women,’ well, that could count as being severe and pervasive conduct and a hostile work environment.”

The other type of workplace sexual harassment is known as a “quid pro quo” case — Latin for “this for that.”

These cases occur when a supervisor promises a promotion or some other job benefit conditioned on sex, or threatens demotion or a pay cut if sex is refused.

The precise allegations against Filner have not been made public, and the number of workers who claim they have been harassed is not known either.

To bring a sexual harassment case, workers have to first file a complaint with the state Department of Fair House and Employment and ask for an investigation. That process can take more than a year.

In almost all cases, lawyers file the complaint and immediately ask for a “right to sue” letter, allowing them to file a suit right away, Gruenberg said.

A spokesman for the state agency said Thursday no complaints against Filner were found.

City employees also may have to file a claim with the city if they are alleging emotional distress or retaliation. It could not be determined Thursday if such claims have been filed because the city requires submission of a formal public records request to view claims against the city. Under state law, the city is required to respond to such requests within 10 days.